Netflix's highly anticipated new period drama, Bridgerton, is exactly what the doctor ordered this holiday season — and by doctor we definitely mean producer Shonda Rhimes.
The trailer for the series — which drops on Christmas Day and will be comprised of eight hour-long episodes — is here, and it looks like peak escapism: elaborately designed sets, Regency-era costumes, love, deception, scandal, and a lot of hot people saying hot things in equally appealing British accents.
Based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling historical romance novels The Bridgertons, Rhimes' show follows the Bridgerton family as their oldest daughter, Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), comes of age and enters 19th century British society to look for a husband. At the same time, a Gossip Girl-like figure named Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews) comes on the scene, stirring up drama and uncovering scandal at every turn. It's like Gossip Girl meets 2020's Emma. meets Pride & Prejudice, but with a refreshingly diverse cast and intrigue that only Rhimes could dream up.
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In the trailer, we see Daphne as she laments that Lady Whistledown's gossip is preventing her from getting offers from suitors. At the same time, the dashing Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), is trying to get the thirsty families who want nothing more than to pair their daughters with him to leave him alone. Seeing an opportunity to mutually benefit, Daphne and Simon hatch a plan to pretend to fall in love. "Every presumptuous mother in town will leave me alone and every suitor will be looking at you," Simon is heard saying. It's a great plan — until the two start to wonder if they're pretending at all. (Well of course, Daphne has eyes, after all).
Watch the trailer for Bridgerton, streaming on Netflix on December 25.